As digital technologies become daily staples in both our personal and professional lives, there's been much discussion among educators and community leaders as to whether these devices and innovations could in some way be accountable for shifts in...

"Are you interested in integrating media making into your classroom? Making media, such as videos, narrated slideshows and online maps, can be an engaging way for students to demonstrate knowledge and build critical thinking skills. Find instructions, videos, worksheets and rubrics for implementing media-making projects with students. We also have self-paced professional development courses that you can take to learn media production!"

“ Google I/O's jam-packed opening keynote on Thursday included a cool surprise: A new VR initiative called Expeditions that lets teachers take their students on virtual field trip...”
Via Rui Guimarães Lima, Mark E. Deschaine, PhD

“ From the smartphone Annie Leibovitzes to the Instagram Ansel Adams, it seems that everybody is a photographer these days. This is a fact teachers can and should take advantage of in the classroom – and for many reasons more than to expand the student photo repertoire beyond the selfie (though that is certainly an admirable goal). While a good lesson in photography itself is a fruitful place to start, digital photography can be a launching point for lessons in writing creatively, thinking critically, expanding the student worldview and building empathy that extends far outside the classroom. Let’s take a look at a few of the best photo sites out there today and discuss a number of ways you can make the most of them in your classroom.”
Via John Evans

Louise Robinson-Lay's insight:

Images tap our imagination. Here is a list of photo sites to use in the classroom.

“ Flippity is a very good tool that you can use on Google Spreadsheets to create flashcards and quizzes. The flashcards you create can be either printed or shared online through a generated link. The process to create a flashcard using Google Spreadsheet is pretty easy. Here is how to do it:”
Via John Evans

We all love sharing things on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. But there's some things that are better off left private. So how's one to decide what they should share? You might think you have a post that all of your friends and followers will love, but how can you be sure? The answer…

Users hand draw their levels using a pencil, grid paper, and specific markings called “glyphs,” and then Pixel Press transforms that schematic into a modifiable, playable, and sharable digital version. very powerful game based learning tool. #plearnchat

“ Today might seem, in appearance, like another regular August day. However, if you are one of our users, you might find that it is, indeed, a special one. Why? We are announcing three great new additions to your favourite personalised learning platform,...”

Louise Robinson-Lay's insight:

Flash cards are a good, quick way of sharing facts and provocations. These ones sit online.

“9 Things Tech-Savvy Teachers Do On A Regular Basis Infographic There are a few key things that tech-savvy teachers do on a regular basis to stay ahead. The”
Via Tom D'Amico (@TDOttawa) , Juergen Wagner

Another way MindMup is now allowing you to work with larger groups easier is a quick notification mechanism when someone changes a node. You'll get a small speech bubble pop up for several seconds and disappear automatically, so it's easy to keep an eye on the entire team or classroom. At the moment, this only works for node text changes, but in the future we'll add other notification types.

Encouraging students to publish work as opposed to simply completing work for assessment, where only the teacher can see it, allows for a focus on excellence and real world learning. The many apps and sites highlighted here are organised into categories.

"Does your gut (and your assessment) tell you some students didn't get it the first time you taught it? Would you like to give students remediation exclusively for concepts they don't understand? Isn’t it impossible to deliver precise remediation to each student in your classroom?"

The quiz is impossible to fail because it directs students to a review video when they incorrectly answer a question. Students then re-try the question. Every time they answer incorrectly, they are directed to the video. When students answer correctly, they move on to the next question.The quiz is meant as a opportunity for students to practice and receive remediation when needed. It is not meant to be an assessment tool. Each student will eventually choose the right answer to the questions.

There is a lot of talk about how failure helps learners to learn. This technique has the best of both worlds. Students can get an answer wrong but are then given another chance to try, and another, and another, if necessary. This makes them responsible for their learning but allows them to achieve success and to learn along the way.

“ Apple today published a new iTunes section that recommends apps, books, iTunes U courses and other Apple educational content for educators and classrooms using iOS devices. The new online resource includes suggestions for teachers on apps from the App Store, books from iBooks, and courses from Apple’s iTunes U service.”
Via John Evans

Louise Robinson-Lay's insight:

More goodies for Apple educators. They sure know how to keep us coming back.

“ Earlier this week Larry Ferlazzo wrote a good post about how he is using Clyp.it to have his ELL students create and share short audio recordings. His post even includes an example from a student. I had not heard of Clyp.it prior to reading Larry's post so I had to try it out.”
Via John Evans

Louise Robinson-Lay's insight:

Clyp.it allows short audio recordings to be made. Richard Byrne checks it out here.

“Michael has a large pile of handwritten notepads that he would like to convert into Microsoft Word documents I have many A4 pads of handwritten notes, which I would like to convert into Microsoft Word documents.”

Louise Robinson-Lay's insight:

If you want to take notes by hand but also want to keep the notes digitally, be warned, you may have limited success with OCR software. One Note, my favourite piece of Microsoft software, seems to be the best option to creating digitised, handwritten notes. Kinda defeats the purpose of toting that Moleskin around though.

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